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Southampton 0-2 Brentford: Carabao Cup – Three Key Takeaways

By Erik Franzo

SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 16: Che Adams of Southampton reacts during the Carabao Cup Second Round match between Southampton FC and Brentford FC at St. Mary's Stadium on September 16, 2020 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 16: Che Adams of Southampton reacts during the Carabao Cup Second Round match between Southampton FC and Brentford FC at St. Mary's Stadium on September 16, 2020 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images) /
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Jack Stephens of Southampton (Photo by Adam Davy – Pool/Getty Images)
Jack Stephens of Southampton (Photo by Adam Davy – Pool/Getty Images) /

Building Out Of The Back

Hasenhuttl has obviously put most of his attention in playing out of the back line.  Alex McCarthy is taking a comically higher line, Jack Stephens and Jan Bednarek are spending and astronomical amount of time on the ball, and the wing backs are playing as far forward as one could expect.  All of these new concepts will take time to figure out, and it is why the manager decided to give his first team regulars game time against Brentford.

The Carabao Cup match showed us neither Stephens nor Bednarek are confident in playing diaganol balls forward.  Where is Wesley Hoedt when you need him?  In fact, the Palace match showed this when Vestergaard was inserted at half time.  To make matters even worse, Oriol Romeu drops into a back three when in possession, and he has very little ability to play passes beyond 25 yards.  Although, it was most painful to watch the centre-backs ping flat passes back and forth in a game of “you do it, no, you do it,” until Ward-Prowse picked up the ball and hit a striker’s feet.

Southampton are clearly intent of building out of the back as McCarthy takes a higher line and throws the ball in distribution nearly 100% of the time.  However, Ralph Hasenhuttl must realize Salisu is a ways away, and playing this style is not to the strengths of his current set of players.